LMU | LA - Loyola Marymount University

Gift of Materials Policy

The Library of Loyola Marymount University welcomes gifts of materials which are within the scope of its collection policies and which support the teaching and research activities of the faculty and the curriculum support needs of faculty and students. Generally, scholarly materials including books, manuscripts, media, and some electronic material are appropriate gifts.

Collection development in any library depends on the thoughtful acquisition of all materials. The Library reserves the right to review all gifts before acceptance. While we appreciate the offer of any materials, outdated textbooks, popular books and magazines, and books that do not fit the collecting profiles are not considered for inclusion in the collection. Scholarly periodicals, because of the ongoing subscription commitment, are also not accepted as gifts unless they can be used to fill in missing issues. Duplicates of items already owned by the Library are not accepted unless they can be used as extra copies for heavily circulating items or as replacements for worn copies.

In addition, specialized library departments may decline to accept materials if they:

• Require processing and storage beyond what normally or reasonably can be processed by existing staff and stored in on-site facilities
• Are of a format not supported by the department
• Require a curator or collection manager not already on staff
• Require extensive repair or conservation
• Include donor restrictions that the Library cannot honor

In cases where the Library is unable to accept a donation, we will make every effort to assist donors by referring them to other libraries that may be a better match for their donation.

To offer a donation of materials to the general Library collections, please contact the Head of Collection Development: (310)338-6063 | gjohnson@lmu.edu. The Head of Collection Development evaluates gifts on a title-by-title basis. To assist in this review, a submitted list of the gift items including author, title, and year of publication is preferred. Please send the list to:

Glenn Johnson-Grau
William H. Hannon Library
Loyola Marymount University
One LMU Drive, MS 8200
Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659

To offer a donation of historical materials to the Department of Archives and Special Collections, please review the gifts in kind policy of the department.

To offer a donation of media materials, please contact the Head of Media and Access Services: (310)338-4584 | rrosen@lmu.edu.

If the offered donation is sizeable, a representative from the Library may schedule a visit to review the collection.

LMU community members, whether by committee or individually, may suggest materials for acceptance; however the Library makes all final decisions for any of the collections it administers. The Library must be notified as soon as possible of potential offers, and be an active participant in university discussions with donors of library gifts-in-kind.

Once accepted, all gifts become the property of the Library. The library determines retention, location, cataloging, disposition and other factors relating to the gifts. Gifts not retained by the library may be offered to other institutions, sold in book sales, or recycled. Donors are asked not to place restrictions on these options. However, if the library finds it cannot use the gift items, and the donor would like to have them back, they will be returned.

Gifts to the Library may be tax deductible. Gifts accepted into the circulating collection are acknowledged by the Collection Development Librarian upon request. The letter of thanks, indicating the number of books received, serves as a receipt. Owing to IRS regulations prohibiting the Library from providing estimations or appraisals, it is the donor's responsibility to obtain a valuation of the gift.